wiredinUSA May 2014

INDEX

Reward offered following power grid attack Pacific Gas & Electric Co is offering a $250,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction for a power grid attack mounted in Silicon Valley nearly a year ago. Lemler, PG&E’s vice president of electric transmission operations, said at a press conference to announce the reward. PG&E’s reward is funded by shareholders and comes nearly a year after AT&T offered its own $250,000 reward for information leading to arrests. MAKING THENEWS

The coordinated attack on 16 th April, the day after the Boston Marathon bombings, cut AT&T fiber optic lines and fired shots into a PG&E substation. The sniper bullets put 17 transformers out of action and, with telephone communication down, millions of people in Santa Clara county were asked to conserve energy. regulatory commission chairman Jon Wellinghoff has called the incident an act of terrorism. However, FBI spokesman Peter Lee has said that the agency has no information to support the view, and the investigation is ongoing. “One year later, the perpetrator or perpetrators of this crime remain at large and we want to help change that,” Gregg Former federal energy

At the time, power was rerouted to avoid a blackout, but it took PG&E workers nearly a month to repair the damage. No arrests have yet been made. PG&E has said it plans to spend $100 million on security measures, and has guards stationed at substations around the clock.

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wiredInUSA - May 2014